good thursday morning. here's what's coming up with "early today." cocaine and the congressman. a major mea culpa in the pursuit of redemption. trey radel speaks out for the first time. a. rod's rage. he storms out of a grievance history. he said he's disgusted with the abusive process. designer dog. is this the perfect face? plus, the food that lengthens your life span, stamps out heart disease and cancer while making you slimmer. and women who have accomplished the near impossible. "early today" starts right now. this is "early today" for thursday, november 21st. good morning.

i'm richard lui. overnight congressman trey radel arrived in florida hours after he pleaded guilty to buying cocaine and was sentenced to a year of probation. he is taking a leave of absence from congress and apologized. he said he'd enter what he calls intensive inpatient treatment. >> i have been getting the help that i need and i will continue to get the help that i need and the support system that i need for years to come. i believe in forgiveness and redemption. and i hope if there is anything positive that can come out of this and i know there will be positive that comes out of this, it's that i hope that i can be a role model for millions of others that are struggling with this disease. >> house speaker john boehner won't say whether he thinks his fellow republican can resign. various reports say the speaker was only informed of his arrest

this week. his dealer tipped off the feds to radel as one of his so-called regular customers, then in a sting, an undercover officer met radel at a d.c. restaurant, and there, the congressman bought more than 3 grams of cocaine for $250. when he got home, federal agents approached him, and he admitted the whole thing. the representative could face a fine of $1,000 and/or up to 180 days in jail. baseball slugger alex rodriguez stormed out of an arbitration hearing of his appeal. he was angry after the arbitrator refused to order baseball commissioner to testify. >> i lost my mind. i banged the table and kick add briefcase and slammed out of the room, and felt like the system -- i knew it was restricted, and i knew it wasn't fair. but what we saw today is just -- it was disgusting. and the fact that the man from

milwaukee who put the suspension on me with not one bit of evidence -- something i didn't do -- and he doesn't have the courage to come look at me in the eye and tell me this is why i did 211? i shouldn't serve one inning. >> in a statement major league baseball wrote in the entire history the commissioner did not testify in a single case. the statement said today's antics are an obvious attempt to justify mr. rodriguez's continuing refusal to testify under oath. we'll have more sports later for you. to iran. warning it will not compromise red lines as rights to enrich uranium. indicated wednesday an agreement is possible in exchange for lifted sanctions. the p-5-plus-1 is working with

them, but the deal from u.s. allies, saudi arabia and israel. comments french president -- says the it complicates the talks. benjamin netanyahu says a real solution is needed. netanyahu met wednesday with russian president vladimir putin who want as mutually acceptable resolution. vice president joe biden urges lawmakers to hold off on passing any more iran sanctions which could jeopardize the delicate talks. a lawmaker will be back at work after she was attacked feet from capitol hill. new york congresswoman grace ming called herself a tough girl from queens. when she was walking home from dinner tuesday, someone knocked her out from behind and stole her purse.

the congresswoman accounted herself lucky in this case, saying she suffered a bump on the head and bruise on her chin. >> luckily, i don't really carry that much cash on me. i had my cell phone and my credit card and i.d. in my coat pocket. so none of that was taken, thankfully. >> doctors say all tests came back normal. as for the congresswoman, she says she's taking it slowly. no arests have been made there. president obama and former president bill clinton laid a wreath on john f. kennedy's grave at arlington cemetery. they did this two days before the 50th anniversary of his assassination. joined by michelle obama, hillary clinton, and mrs. kennedy, and tom brokaw told jon stewart that jfk was the first president we all shared. >> he was in everyone's home

every night. and we'd not had that phenomenal before, so there was a familiarity with him. and he was so charismatic. by that stage of the presidency, his numbers were going up. he'd become popular again after the cuban missile crisis. so it was a real transition in how we perceive politicians and the connection we felt to him. and then, it was such a violent ending. i was wholly unexpected. i read it on the air there. i remember having two parts of my mind working -- personal, i didn't know what we could expect next, and then i thought, this doesn't happen in this country. >> brokaw looks into the national effect of that fateful day in his new documentary, "where were you the day jfk died?" an underwater volcanic eruption creates a new island off tokyo island. news footage kepts this happening. if it's certified as an island,

japan's territorial waters are expected to expand. bill karins, happy birthday to that island. >> that's cool. maybe you can go back -- i want to see how long it takes for life to start to grow. five years? is it ten years? >> maybe you will live that long. >> we'll find out. we'll just take today and try to get through it. >> let's get to weather, how about that? you got time for that? >> friends in san francisco, they didn't know what to do with themselves with the rain coming down. almost picked up a whole inch of rain. that's not bad totals -- >> after all of the talk, right? >> even l.a. got a couple of drops in the bucket. long beach, los angeles, the showers in the mountains. look what's coming down through malibu. a little line of rain. that may hold together right into los angeles here over the next half hour or so. so just keep that in mind if you're heading out, you may need the windshield wipers briefly. also, leftover rain shower activity between sacramento and san francisco, but if you're driving on interstate 5, and as

far as the weather pattern goes, we'll end up with a pretty good-sized storm off the california coast. a big ole huge high will build down from the north, and that will lead to a high wind event thursday night into saturday. actually call it a mono wind event, something i'd never heard of before, but they can get 100 miles per hour on the downside of the sierras, so high wind warnings i air, and leftover showers in bakersfield. >> so from growing up there, is that a term you heard, mono wind event? >> i was wondering what that highfalutin word was, what was it? >> mono high wind event. >> all right. leave it to you.

thank you, bill karins. heart-saving, cancer-saving, waist-slimming harvard studied food. we have that. plus, jfk's medal of freedom award, next.

welcome back a boeing dreamlifter accidentally landed at the wrong airport in wichita, kansas. it's now stuck on that runway. the aircraft was headed to mcconnell air force base, but instead touched down at a small airport nearby with a runway that's reportedly here far too short for it to take off. >> sky two-four-two heavy, do you know which airport you're at? >> let me ask you this. how many airports are directly to the south of the one-nine are there? >> how'd that happen?

no injuries or damage to the cargo. officials are working on how to get the dreamlifter to mcconnell. secretary of state john kerry announced the united states and afghanistan have drafted an agreement to keep american troop presence in the country through 2024. an afghan grand council will review it for approval. but an aide to karzai said no agreement would be approved without an apology from the u.s. for military mistakes made over the past 12 years. kerry says an apology is now on the table. president obama awarded 16 people the medal of freedom yesterday. it included former president bill clinton and oprah winfrey. it was established by president kennedy 50 years ago. a kennedy cousin is expected to be released from prison this week after being granted a new trial in the 1975 killing of his 15-year-old neighbor. skakel has been serving a 20-year, two-life sentence since

2002. some are calling it sweet 16. illinois is the 16th state to allow same-sex marriage. governor pat quinn made it official, saying, quote, love never fail, and i'm going to sign this bill. the state joins 15 others and the district of columbia in approving marriage equality. a good reason to be nuts about nuts. harvard researchers tracked 119,000 men and women over a 30-year period. they found that those who ate nuts almost every day were 20% less likely to die during the study than those who did not eat nuts at all. also, the risk of dying from cancer was down 11%, and the risk of heart disease dropped a whopping 29%. not only that, but nut eaters stayed slimmer. the good nuts include peanuts, pistachios, walnuts, and other tree nuts. now, you're all ready to be nuts about nuts. ahead, the prince of detroit, no more. call it the fight before the fight. teen pacman takes on brandon

rios' crew, next.

yes this rising tea party star was caught in a coke bust. apparently he forgot the part of the tea party story where you dump the product in the harbor before the cops show up. [ laughter ] folks, personally, i hate to lose a congressman so fiscally conservative that i'm

sure he snorted his blow through a one dollar bill. >> all right. let's get to the latest in sports now. tough news. will olympic gold medallist lindsey vonn miss sochi? the latest update, she partially tore the ligament she just replaced. the right knee is the one she blew out february in that accident. yeah, doctors will watch and wait to see how severe the tear is. the $214 million man has been traded. the tigers will since prince fielder to the rangers. texas gets his .279 batting average and 25 home runs last season, and almost $30 million in cash. but have to pay him $138 million over seven seasons. what do the tigers get? second baseman ian kensiler. the pacers become the first team with 10 win, beating the knicks. indiana's paul george scored nine points in overtime.

the pacers win, 103-96. the defending champs make quick work of the magic, meanwhile. lebron james leading the charge with the reverse baseline dunk. the heat dominate. trash-talking turns into a brawl before the fight. the teams sprawling at the training session. the real brawl, november 23rd. that is kind of fun to watch. hockey, and minnesota is on fire. talent, highlight. the pass between the legs for score. mini has lost only once this month, beating ottawa, 4-1. what is jose canseco doing now, driving around with two goats in his car? he said he was headed to a shoot of his documentary called "fainting goats." who will win the international ice hockey federation championship? fans hope petroveitch, the giant crab knows the answer. we're not sure how petroveitch will pick winners, maybe two

boxes of food, like what paul the octopus used for the world cup. the packers fans made the best of the baby boy being born with a broken collarbone. they named him aaron roger, after the injured packers quarterback who has the same injury. they dropped the "s" so it sounded more like a middle name. meet the man who put bon jovi back on the charts. billboard credit this celtics fan, jeremy, and his viral 2009 rendition of bon jovi's "living on a prayer." the song is number 25. it was number one in 1987. the woman getting the kiss. just ahead, is this the world's perfect puppy-faced pet? we'll tell you about it when "early today" returns.

welcome back. here's your fun alaska fact of the day. an e-mail sent to me from the weather channel yesterday. in fairbanks, under eighth grade, you can't go outside under minus 30. high school, under minus 40. >> that's interesting. >> so ridiculous, but it makes sense. it's meanous 30 now in fairbanks, so talk about being tough and hardy. today's high minus 14, so you can go out for recess. as far as the forecast in the west, we have the rain showers heading through areas of southern california today, and eventually, a good rainstorm setting up for arizona. they definitely need the rain, and they will get it. so -- >> minus 30. >> do you like that? >> a great fact, as always.

hopefully, someone kept chris brown's bed warm in rehab. he has been ordered back into rehab after the singer threw a rock into his mother's car window. > cee-lo green is back in court. congrats to adam brody and his girlfriend. the two of them got engaged. kevin spacy found an interesting way to get in touch with -- >> why not try it? although producers were announcing a sequel to "it's a wonderful life," paramount who owns the copyright says, no, thank you. paramount plans to fight the plan. brazilian woman sold her virginity last year for

$780,000. but the deal fell through. >> what happened? >> well, now, she's launching the contest again. the bidding starts at $100,000 and ends december 12th. her goal is to get $1.5 million for her, quote, maidenhood. 18 years old and doing that, huh? eddie murphy joined his "coming to america" co-star, now host of the revised "arsenio hall show" this week saying a sequel to the hit movie is unlikely due to the lawsuit that bare a mount faced claiming that they stole the script. >> that cannot stand in the way. >> yeah. a great movie, wasn't it? >> classics of all time. get back the cast and crew together. >> amazing. we hope that it does happen somehow. i'm richard lui, this is "early today. "we hope it's just your first stop of the day right here on nbc.

leading the news this morning bat kid celebrations cost sf $105,000. the public funds were spent mostly on last minute equipment rentals to transform san francisco into gotham city. for a 5-year-old leukemia patient. officials are hoping to recoup the cash through private donations. on nbcnews.com, famous psychic, sylvia brown dies at 77. the bestselling author made frequent appearances on programs like the "montel williams show" and "larry king live" for centuries. four senior taliban leaders among nine killed in drone strikes in afghanistan. eight others were injured. florida prosecutors have dropped stalking charges against two girls. in connection with a deadly cyber bullying case.

the 12-year-old and 14-year-old girls were accused of harassing 12-year-old rebecca sedgwick before she took her life. the florida state attorney's office cannot comment on why the charges were dropped, because the girls are juveniles. and an 85-year-old grandfather from california is reportedly being held by the north korean government. merrill newman went on a 10-day trip with a tour group out of beijing, but was reportedly taken off the plane, headed home last month, and has not been heard from ever since. mean while, the u.s. has issued its harshest travel warning against north korea in 18 years. could this be the dog of everyone's dreams? take a look. >> not cute. >> yeah, not bad. bill says it's okay. it's a cavalier spaniel with bichon mix. it's hypoallergenic, long life, never loses its puppy face.

however, however, they don't come cheap. prices range from $2,000 to $3,500. >> you had me until the end. >> yeah. almost order four, five of them, right? time for a look back. three women graduate from the marine corps enlisted training course today. they were in a group that matched same standards as the men as the military prepares to open up combat jobs for women. in 1995, president bill clinton announced a deal toans reported by nbc news. >> serbia, croatia have reached an agreement to end the war in bosnia. happy birthday to jepson, 28, michael strahan turns 42, oscar winning actress goldie hawn is 68. keep it here for more news and weather, sports, and much more. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thanks for watching "early today." have a very good day.

new this morning a bay area veteran trying to return home from north korea is detained in the country. why he was reportedly pulled off of his flight back to the bay area. >> also disturbing hate crime allegations against three students on one of the bay area's diverse college campuses. what concerned students are doing this morning to demand answers. >> bay area commuters on pins and needles as hundreds of thousands of b.a.r.t. riders await a crucial decision on the new contract. >> right now an early morning look, the bay bridge illuminated. close to the weekend. it is thursday, november 21st, this is "today in the bay."